Malcolm Turnbull by the Sea: art meets artful dodger

Malcolm Turnbull by the Sea was a crowd-pleasing work of art – less a sculpture than an animation.

The Prime Minister had come on Sunday afternoon to Marks Park, on the headland that straddles Bondi and Tamarama, to announce the people's choice award in the 19th Sculpture by the Sea exhibition. He looked all the more animated against a backdrop of things of stone and wood, plastic and steel.

A million eyeballs had examined the 107 sculptures in the cliff-hanging exhibition over the past few weeks, said master of ceremonies Robbie Buck, of ABC radio. A record number of those eyeballs loitered for long enough to behold Mr Turnbull en plein air.

"A breath of fresh air, to be honest, in political discourse," said Ian McGill, a partner at the Allens law firm, who welcomed the Prime Minister to the lectern, but not before adding: "Time to get some impetus on constitutional recognition, just to add it – damn it – to the list."

The crowd cheered. It might have made an Abbott loyalist bilious, but not a grumble or dry retch could be heard from this convivial throng.

The republican Prime Minister stepped up and gave them stand-up. The mayor of Waverley, Sally Betts, was "by far the most powerful person here, I might say to you. I mean, I might be the Prime Minister, but I can't get you a DA [development application] in Bondi, believe me".

If the masses didn't believe him, they loved it anyway.

When the Prime Minister announced the people's choice, it wasn't himself but Kim Perrier for Ashes to Ashes. It is a hollowed marri tree with human faces imposed in relief, none of them resembling Malcolm Turnbull, who nevertheless lauded it as a statement of environmentalism.

The mob surrounded the PM as he was introduced to a walking piece of ecological art, a nurse-turned-Bollywood actress called Ashima Narwal, who modelled a mermaidy little dress made entirely of trash collected from the ocean by Californian artist Marina DeBris.

Any Green in the audience might have been reaching for a bucket, but none was in evidence.

Fairfax Media pressed the Allens lawyer to explain what he meant by "breath of fresh air".

"He's changed the language of public discourse," Mr McGill said. "I think it was shown most graphically with his and [Premier] Mike Baird's response to the dreadful Parramatta shooting, which was a much more calm, respectful, nuanced response to a tragic event. So I think we're just moving away, thank goodness, from sloganeering and instead dealing with and engaging with issues."

As opposed to Tony Abbott?

"I'm not referring to him," Mr McGill said. "I'm just referring to a breath of fresh air."

But there would be no opportunity for journalists to ask Mr Turnbull to engage with some issues, such as: did he agree with Scott Morrison that Australians pay too much income tax? And if raising the GST was the answer, would he keep jacking it up every time bracket creep got a bit too creepy?

The Prime Minister was whisked off the headland, as quick as a breath of asthmatic air.

Rick Feneley is a news and features writer for The Sydney Morning Herald. His column, Then Again, appears on Saturdays. He was the paper's long-term night editor before returning to writing in late 2008.